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Crunchy Granola Parfait Recipe

September 2

I cooked brunch for 12 people this weekend. It was my first time ever cooking for such a large number and I was pretty excited about the whole thing. My goal was to prepare dishes that weren’t too difficult to make in the first place and would just require heating up when it was time to eat. I definitely didn’t want to be cooking eggs to order (who would?). I went with this rosti for the potato element, and these corn tortillas for something approximating lunch and a salad in one, for the sweet element I went with a yogurt parfait. Most of the people I was serving don’t really like eating sweets so I thought that yogurt, fruit and granola was a healthy, sweet alternative.
I had a few requirements for this parfait: 1) That the granola would be crunchy and crispy. I make a lot of granola and granola bars (that I really love) but they are on the crumbly side. While they could be easily sprinkled over the parfait, I wanted something with some texture and bite to it. Coating nuts with granola seemed like the answer to my texture requirement. 2) That there was a few textures of fruit. The berries on the top of the parfait are fresh and delicious, but spooning soft peaches that are swimming in their own, sweet liquid over yogurt is a whole other story.
Overall, it was a great dish. People could pick and choose the parts that they wanted to eat and how much. The granola was the first thing people were snacking on when they arrived, before the rest of the food was ready. Even if you are not entertaining, it is worthwhile to make a big batch of granola and nectarines and use it for breakfast or a snack throughout the week.

This makes a huge batch of granola and nectarines. If you plan on eating it all week for breakfast it is great but if you are going to be snacking on it a little less frequently, I suggest halving the recipe.

Granola

1 1/2 cups oats

4 tablespoons almonds

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup flaked unsweetened coconut

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large egg whites

2 tablespoons water

Pinch of salt

4 cups mixed nuts (I used almonds and walnuts)

Stewed Nectarines

10 nectarines, cut into segments

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Assembly

Crunchy granola

Stewed nectarines

Vanilla yogurt

Fresh berries

Granola

Preheat your oven to 300F.

In a food processor, pulse the oats, almonds, brown sugar, coconut and cinnamon together until coarsely ground. Make sure that it doesn't become powdery or floury.

In a separate bowl, whisk together egg whites and water until the mixture is bubbly and frothy.

Coat the nuts in the egg whites. Make sure that they are completely coated or the granola will not stick to them.

Toss nuts in the oat mixture and gently fold though.

Pour your nuts onto a baking tray covered with aluminum foil.

Bake nuts for 20 minutes.

Remove and cool nuts. Store in an airtight container.

Stewed Nectarines

In a large pan on medium heat, add segmented nectarines.

Add water, honey and cinnamon and cook the nectarines down until they are soft and their liquid has released, about 15 minutes.